(CNN) -- On Thursday in Tampa, U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel presided over a change of command ceremony during which Adm. William "Bill" McRaven handed over the reins of Special Operations Command to his successor, Gen. Joseph Votel.

As McRaven stepped down he observed, "We are in perilous times." He pointed out that U.S. Special Operations Forces are helping to fight the fast-growing Islamic State in Iraq; the al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf in the Philippines; the militant group Boko Haram in Nigeria, and al Qaeda and the Taliban in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region.

McRaven also said, "We are in the golden age of Special Operations" in which elements of the 67,000 men and women under his command have deployed to 92 countries.

BAGHDAD — The U.S. military carried out airstrikes on Islamic State militants near the besieged Iraqi town of Amerli on Saturday night, boosting morale for thousands of residents who have been trapped inside for two months, Iraqi officials and the Pentagon said.

The assault, which came alongside a coordinated humanitarian aid drop, marks the second time this month that the United States has intervened militarily in Iraq to prevent an Islamic State attack on thousands of trapped civilians.

Iraqi state media said Sunday afternoon that government forces had broken the siege. Kurdish pesh merga fighters also battling the militants near Amerli and reached by telephone confirmed that Iraqi army forces aided by Shiite militias had entered the town. But Kurdish forces continued to fight the jihadists in surrounding villages, they said.

A billionaire media baron pledged to join pro-democracy protests after Beijing offered Hong Kong a form of election that requires patriotic candidates and gives China significant influence in who leads the financial centre.

For months, protesters have threatened to shut down Hong Kong if Beijing did not provide the right to openly nominate and vote for the territory’s powerful chief executive position.

On Sunday, Chinese authorities offered a broad rejection of those pleas, allowing only a form of partially open election — derided by critics as a “bird-cage democracy” — that maintains a secretive system where candidates are nominated by a 1,200-person committee. Those candidates must, the National People’s Congress said Sunday, bear allegiance to China.

“The chief executive shall be a person who loves the country and loves Hong Kong,” the decision text says.

Iran Says Possible Response To New U.S. Sanctions Could Not Be 'Pleasant' -- Reuters

(Reuters) - Iran's possible response to new U.S. sanctions could "not be pleasant", its foreign minister said on Sunday, raising the prospect of tit-for-tat retribution against the Islamic Republic's old adversary weeks ahead of fresh nuclear talks.

Iranian leaders reacted with dismay to Friday's announcement that Washington was going to penalize a number of Iranian and other foreign companies, banks and airlines for violating sanctions against Tehran, most of which are tied to a decade-old dispute about its nuclear program.

Washington said the moves were a signal that there would be no let-up of sanctions while international talks were underway to ease the economic measures in exchange for Iran's agreement to curb its nuclear activities.

Armed pro-Russian separatists escort a column of Ukrainian prisoners of war (L) as they walk across central Donetsk August 24. Maxim Shemetov / Reuters

Fears Of Massacre After Accusations Russians Reneged On Safe Passage For Ukrainian Forces -- The Telegraph

Ukrainian forces said pro-Putin forces went back on a promise to allow them to leave encircled town.

Ukrainian volunteer battalions claim "hundreds" of their men have been killed and dozens taken prisoner after pro-Russian forces reneged on an agreement to allow them to withdraw from a besieged town 20 miles east of Donetsk.

The losses came during attempts to withdraw from Ilovaisk, a town of southeast of Donetsk where a Ukrainian force had been surrounded for more than 10 days.

Following days of intense fighting and repeated failures to relieve the trapped troops, the Ukrainian government announced it would surrender the town on Saturday, under a deal that would allow them to withdraw through a so-called "green corridor."

My Comment: I cannot say that I am surprised by these reports .... these Ukrainian volunteer battalions are hated by separatists forces and are a high priority target. As to the fighting .... media reports are more focused on Western reaction to Russia's involvement in the Ukraine civil war ... but my sources .... in both Russia and Ukraine are telling me that many Ukrainian military units have been decimated in the past few days and that casualty rates are in the hundreds (if not more).

Putin Calls For Talks On 'Statehood' For Eastern Ukraine -- Business Insider/AFP

Moscow (AFP) - President Vladimir Putin on Sunday dramatically raised the stakes in the Ukraine conflict by calling for the first time for statehood to be considered for the restive east of the former Soviet state.

"We need to immediately begin substantive talks ... on questions of the political organisation of society and statehood for southeastern Ukraine with the goal of protecting the lawful interests of the people who live there," Putin was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies on a TV show broadcast in the far east of the country.

My Comment: Everyone knows that Putin is pushing for statehood for the eastern Ukrainian provinces .... and everyone also knows that Kiev will decline such a proposition. But still .... Putin is offering an olive branch to Ukrainian Poroshenko for a possible face-saving way out of this mess. My advice to the Ukrainian President is that unless he wants to be fighting a war for the rest of his term in office .... he should take it.

(Reuters) - Ukraine and Russia swapped soldiers who had entered each other's territory near the battlefield in eastern Ukraine, where Kiev says Moscow's forces have come to the aid of pro-Russian insurgents advancing for an assault on a major port.

Ukrainian troops and local residents were reinforcing the port of Mariupol on Sunday, the next big city in the path of pro-Russian fighters who pushed back government forces along the Azov Sea this past week in an offensive on a new front.

The new rebel advance has drawn increasing concern from Ukraine's Western allies, who say its success is a result of reinforcement by armoured columns of Russian troops.

Poroshenko’s Statement That Ukraine Conflict Can End by September Far From Reality - DPR -- RIA Novosti

MOSCOW, August 31 (RIA Novosti) – The Kiev authorities’ statements that conflict in eastern Ukraine can be ended by September are idealistic and far from reality, Deputy Prime Minister of Donetsk People’s Republic Andrei Purgin said in an interview with RIA Novosti Saturday.

"Their statements are of Martian nature, these people are dwelling in an emerald garden on Mars and commenting on the situation, which has nothing to do with reality. In fact, all these comments are often made not for internal use but for external use, for Europe. Such claims hit the headlines, then the IMF allocates money, so their goal is to get money from the IMF," Purgin said.

Earlier in the day, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said he expects that implementation of his peace plan for the crisis in eastern Ukraine can stop the war in the region in early September.

My Comment: If there was an eagerness on both sides for peace talks .... the civil war could end in weeks. But there is no sentiment for such talks .... especially now. Thousands have been killed (not the official tally of 2,600) .... thousands even more wounded. Infrastructure and property destroyed on a massive scale. One million refugees. Nope .... this war is not going to end in September .... in fact .... my biggest fear now is that this war is just starting.

Vladimir Putin Has Absorbed The West's 'Consequences' And Stepped Up His Aggression -- Peter Foster, The Telegraph

American Way: Putin has shown that he is willing to take all the economic pain America and Europe are prepared to inflict. So what's to stop him from going even further?

When Barack Obama arrives in the Estonian capital of Tallinn early this week to meet the presidents of the three Baltic States, he will come bearing the gift of assurances.

Framed against a glorious medieval backdrop, Mr Obama will promise that while their nations may indeed be small, and newcomers to Nato, the United States and the major European military powers "mean what we say" when it comes to honouring Nato's mutual defence pact.

As any parent will tell you, when an authority figure warns that "I mean what I say" it's almost always a sign that the object of such threats - in this case Russian president Vladimir Putin - has good reason to doubt the truth of that statement, or at least to test whether or not it is true.

My Comment: The Russians are now "circling the wagons" .... and from Putin's perspective .... he is in the middle of this circle. While almost all Russians are against going to war against Ukraine .... if it comes to a war this anti-war sentiment will disappear in a minute. As to the impact of sanctions .... the culture and mindset is different in Russia. War means everyone must sacrifice .... this is accepted as a fact .... and as a result everyone will pitch in even if sanctions means tough times. Case in point .... I have relatives who live in the city of Kharkiv which is near the Russian border and the Dohensk and Luhansk regions where much of this fighting is occurring. Everyone in the family is making sure (in both Russia and Ukraine) that they will be taken care of during the cold winter months .... in my case .... my contribution is money. It is not like the U.S., where I have discovered that war has become a burden to only those who
serve and to their families who must always worry about their loved
ones. For most Americans .... they may have strong opinions about the wars that America is involved in .... but on a personal level .... totally untouched with the exception of paying a bit more in taxes and having a greater national debt in the future. In Europe .... this mindset is even more so .... no one wants to suffer economically.

MARIUPOL, Ukraine — A group of Ukrainian volunteer soldiers managed to escape Saturday from Ilovaysk, a southeastern town that has been besieged by pro-Russian separatists for almost a week, Ukrainian officials said.

Ukraine’s interior minister, Arsen Avakov, announced that 28 of the more than 200 fighters trapped in the town had escaped, but the military did not explain how that had been accomplished — or offer details about plans to evacuate the rest of the troops.

“There’s an operation to withdraw our military from there,” spokesman Col. Andriy Lysenko said Saturday. “The major task now is to evacuate our military with the least losses.”

The soldiers have been cornered in the town since Monday, surrounded by separatists they say have been freshly supplied with troops and high-tech weapons from Russia. Food and ammunition have dwindled, and the death toll has been mounting.

The soldiers’ plight and their apparent dispatch into battle with little training and inadequate equipment has sparked scorn across Ukraine in recent days. Volunteer commanders venting on Facebook have denounced what they say is the government’s neglect, and protesters have gathered in the capital, Kiev, chanting “Weapons for patriots.”

My Comment: These kids are now realizing what war is all about .... more to the point .... they are now probably horrified to find themselves fighting a civil war where the local population hates you, the people you are fighting against are not only determined to kill you but are well equipped to do so, that you and your fellow Ukrainian soldiers are under-equipped and poorly trained, and .... throw in the Russian army .... you are now facing a professional army that has the capacity to completely destroy you if they want to. This is where terms like "canon-fodder" can be easily applied to this mes. As to the 28 volunteer soldiers who escaped .... they are very lucky.

Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Saud speaks before a meeting with the US Secretary of State at his private residence on June 27, 2014 in the Red Sea city of Jeddah (AFP Photo/Brendan Smialowski)

Saudi King Warns West Will Be Jihadists' Next Target -- AFP

Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) (AFP) - King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has warned that the West will be the next target of the jihadists sweeping through Syria and Iraq, unless there is "rapid" action.

"If we ignore them, I am sure they will reach Europe in a month and America in another month," he said in remarks quoted on Saturday by Asharq al-Awsat daily and Saudi-backed Al-Arabiya television station.

"Terrorism knows no border and its danger could affect several countries outside the Middle East," said the king who was speaking at a welcoming ceremony on Friday for new ambassadors, including a new envoy from Saudi ally the United States.

What Going To War In Syria Would Really Mean For The U.S. -- Conor Friedersdorf, The Atlantic

A brutal dictator, a violent terrorist group, and the morally fraught tradeoff that interventionists face

Attacking Adolf Hitler's Germany benefited moral monster Joseph Stalin's Soviet Union. That inescapable fact of World War II doesn't mean it wasn't worth fighting Nazis. Under the circumstances, allying with Stalin to beat Hitler was the right call. But the consequences of that fraught alliance were themselves horrific. To ignore its downsides would be to misunderstand the real choices America faced.

Today in Syria, the United States faces another set of harrowing tradeoffs. Syria's leader, Bashar al-Assad, is a murderous dictator. The various rebel groups trying to wrest the country from his control include ISIS, a radical Sunni militia. To strike Assad, as Obama threatened to do last summer, would help ISIS. To strike ISIS, as the Obama administration is threatening to do right now, would help Assad. Those are the unsavory choices confronting all who favor intervention. And while the prospect of aiding and abetting Assad or ISIS doesn't decisively prove that intervention is unwise, it is at least a factor that Americans ought to confront with open eyes, rather than pretending the tradeoff away.

My Comment: There are now no good options when it comes to Syria. This is a conflict that must run it's course .... and it now looks like it is going to be a few years of warfare before there is even a prospect of an end to the conflict.

Mariupol Digs Its Trenches And Awaits An Attack From The Troops Of 'New Russia' -- The Telegraph

Ukrainian forces in the port city of Mariupol believe Russian troops are poised to take their stronghold – but Moscow denies that its troops are serving across the border

"They're different to the fighters in Donetsk. We know what they're like, we've fought them before. These guys are different. Their kit, their uniforms, everything – they're Russian armed forces."

Standing among the sandbag redoubts dotting the grounds of the Azov battalion's headquarters in Mariupol, the city of 500,000 that has become the front line in the five-month old war in Ukraine, "Kirt" as the officer insisted on being called, seemed unperturbed by the presence of a well-equipped Russian army just 20 miles away.

"It's a psychological offensive," he said. "We're ready for anything, but I don't expect them to mount some massive attack."

Prime Minister, who has fled to South Africa, confirms with Al Jazeera that army has taken over government buildings.

Military units in Lesotho have surrounded government and police buildings and gunfire has been heard in the small mountainous southern African kingdom, in what diplomats said appeared to be an attempted coup.

The military seized control of the tiny police headquarters and jammed radio stations and phones in the early hours on Saturday, a government minister and member of the ruling coalition told the AFP news agency.

Prime Minister Tom Thabane confirmed with Al Jazeera that coup was indeed under way in his coutry and that he has now moved to South Africa.

NATO is reportedly working towards the creation of an expeditionary force composed of 10,000 troops from seven different member states as a result of escalating tensions with Russia over the conflict in Ukraine.

According to the Financial Times, the force’s creation will be spearheaded by Britain and involve contributions from Denmark, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Norway, and the Netherlands. Canada is also interested in joining the group, but it’s not known what its final decision will be.

Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko (L) greets NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen during their meeting in Kiev, August 7, 2014. Rasmussen on Thursday called on Russia to pull its troops back from the border with Ukraine and "step back from the brink". REUTERS/Mykola Lazarenko /Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters

Ukraine To Seek Nato Membership, Says PM Yatsenyuk -- BBC

Ukraine's prime minister has said he will ask parliament to put the country on a path towards Nato membership.

Arseny Yatsenyuk said the government was sending a bill to MPs urging that Ukraine's non-bloc status be cancelled.

The remarks come as Nato holds an emergency meeting to discuss the crisis in eastern Ukraine.

The West has stepped up its accusations of direct Russian involvement in the conflict, following advances by pro-Russian rebels.

On Thursday Nato released satellite images it said showed Russian forces inside Ukraine. and said more than 1,000 troops were operating there.

Poland has allowed the plane of Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu to fly over its territory, after the plane changed its status from military to civilian. Earlier the country barred its airspace to the plane.

The Russian defense minister’s plane has left Bratislava’s airport, according to the Slovak Interior Ministry, RIA Novosti news agency reported.

The plane has received permission to fly over Poland after “the pilot has already provided the plan of the civilian flight,” the press secretary of the Armed Forces Operational Command (DORSZ) told the Itar-Tass news agency.

Poland stated that the flyover was refused due to the plane’s changed status: it was changed from civil to military for unknown reasons, according to the spokesman for Poland's state air navigation services agency, PAZP, as cited by Reuters.

“AI is going to be huge,” said one U.S. Navy official familiar with the service’s F/A-XX effort to replace the Super Hornet starting around 2030.

Further, while there are significant differences between the U.S. Air Force’s vision for its F-X air superiority fighter and the Navy’s F/A-XX, the two services agree on some fundamental aspects about what characteristics the jet will need to share.

“I think we all agree that we have to work on PNT [Positioning, Navigation and Timing], comms, big data movement between both services,” the official said.

An image from the U.S.'s May, 1953 "Grable" test of a 280-mm nuclear cannon. U.S. Department of Energy

Here's Where We Think The World's Nukes Are Stored — And What It Says About Global Security -- Armin Rosen, Business Insider

Nuclear security scholars Hans M. Kristensen and Robert S. Norris published a study of the worldwide deployment of nuclear weapons on August 27th in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, their first such survey since 2009.

As they stress throughout their paper, tracking the number and location of the world's nuclear warheads is an inherently uncertain endeavor. Nuclear-armed powers don't tend to reveal information about other countries' programs, and some governments, like Israel, maintain a strictly-enforced code of opacity regarding anything nuke-related. Little is really known about North Korea's program, and command and control over the nuclear stock in Pakistan is still a matter of anxious speculation.

My Comment: All that I cans say is that it is amazing that we have not blown ourselves up since the dawn of the atomic age. The entire report on the worldwide deployments of nuclear weapons for 2014 is here.

He commanded the bin Laden raid—and expanded U.S. commandos’ global footprint. Now Adm. Bill McRaven is leaving the military. He promises—promises—that politics won’t be next.

Admiral Bill McRaven left command of U.S. special operations this week as a somewhat bewildered man – surprised, stymied, and in some cases burned by the fame and notoriety that launched his three years there, as the military commander of the 2011 raid that killed terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden.

His fame and the public respect for his role was such that multiple special operations officials say he was even approached as a possible vice presidential candidate for the as-yet-undeclared Hillary Clinton presidential campaign – something he openly denies ever happened. But the rumors persist throughout special operations circles even as he accepted a top post with the University of Texas.

"I am not running with Hillary," he said forcefully when last asked this past spring – a statement reiterated by his spokesman this summer.

The RQ-4A Global Hawk is a high-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aerial reconnaissance system designed to provide military field commanders with high-resolution, near-real-time imagery of large geographic areas. (CREDIT : REUTERS/U.S. Air Force/Staff Sgt. Reynaldo Ramon)

The U-2 And Global Hawk, The US Spy Planes That Will Help Hunt ISIS in Syria -- International Business Times

The United States has begun surveillance flights over Syria in an attempt to spy on ISIS fighters. While the U.S. Department of Defense refused to comment on what type of aircraft will be used, one military aviation expert said they will likely be the venerable Lockheed Martin U-2 spy planes and Northrop Grumman-built Global Hawk drones.

“The two aircraft will complement each other and offer different ways to gather intelligence,” said Richard Aboulafia, vice president of analysis at Teal group. "The Global Hawk drone can go for longer periods, but the manned U-2 is far more flexible as it has a human pilot physically in the aircraft."

The decision to spy on the Islamic militant group ISIS inside Syria comes after months of intense fighting between ISIS and Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq, which resulted in U.S. airstrikes on key positions there. U.S. officials admitted that they need more info on ISIS' operations in Syria.

My Comment: What strikes me about this report is that it is telling us that the U.S. is about to spy on Syria. This is a surprise .... I was always under the impression that U.S. intelligence was spying on Syria since the start of the civil war over 3 years ago. I guess I over-estimated Langley's reach.

The Assembly Of A New World Order -- Henry Kissinger, Wall Street Journal

The concept that has underpinned the modern geopolitical era is in crisis

Libya is in civil war, fundamentalist armies are building a self-declared caliphate across Syria and Iraq and Afghanistan's young democracy is on the verge of paralysis. To these troubles are added a resurgence of tensions with Russia and a relationship with China divided between pledges of cooperation and public recrimination. The concept of order that has underpinned the modern era is in crisis.

The search for world order has long been defined almost exclusively by the concepts of Western societies. In the decades following World War II, the U.S.—strengthened in its economy and national confidence—began to take up the torch of international leadership and added a new dimension. A nation founded explicitly on an idea of free and representative governance, the U.S. identified its own rise with the spread of liberty and democracy and credited these forces with an ability to achieve just and lasting peace. The traditional European approach to order had viewed peoples and states as inherently competitive; to constrain the effects of their clashing ambitions, it relied on a balance of power and a concert of enlightened statesmen.

Putin Mocks The West, Puts His Own Prestige On The Line -- Anna Nemtsova, Daily Beast

By proclaiming his support for Novorossiya, the old imperial name for eastern and southern Ukraine, Putin signals he won’t back away from the fight.

MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin ratcheted up his rhetorical-historical claims on eastern Ukraine Friday, even as pro-Russian rebels and their allies among the separatist rebels pushed forward there with a new offensive.

The lead headline on the Kremlin’s own Web site declared that Putin had “addressed the Novorossiya militia,” a clear and unequivocal sign that Putin is putting his own prestige on the line to back the separatist movement. That fact will make it harder for him to back down (if he had any such inclination) and therefore much harder for an increasingly fretful Europe and the United States to come to terms with him.

NATO To Russia: Stop 'Illegal' Military Operations in Ukraine -- Voice of America

NATO has called on Russia to cease its "illegal military operations" in eastern Ukraine, which it says are aimed at destabilizing the country.

The comments by NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Friday followed an emergency meeting in Brussels to discuss the worsening crisis.

Rasmussen, referencing satellite images released by his organization Thursday, said it is now clear that Russian troops and equipment have illegally crossed the border into eastern Ukraine. He said this is not an isolated incident, but part of a pattern over many months to destabilize Ukraine as a sovereign nation.

'It Would Be An Honor To Join ISIS And Become A Citizen Of The Caliphate,' Says Former US Army Psychiatrist Who Killed 13 In Shooting Spree At Fort Hood -- Daily Mail

* Nidal Hasan claimed it would be 'an honor' to join ISIS caliphate in letter
* Hasan killed 13 and injured 30 in 2009 mass shooting at Fort Hood, Texas
* Earlier this year FBI chief testified that he believed the shooting carried out by Hasan at Fort Hood in Texas was inspired by al-Qaeda

The former Army psychiatrist who killed 13 people in the 2009 shooting spree at Fort Hood has said it would be 'an honor' to join the caliphate in a letter to ISIS, it has been reported.

Nidal Hasan has apparently requested to be made a 'citizen soldier' of the caliphate in the letter to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Hasan opened fire on his fellow servicemen and women on November 5, killing 13 and injuring 30 others.

A still image captured from U.S. Navy cockpit video shows an F/A-18F Super Hornet assigned to the Fighting Black Lions of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 213 after launching from the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush in the Arabian Gulf on Aug. 10, 2014 in this video released on Aug. 11, 2014. A series of U.S. airstrikes since last week has slowed the operational tempo of the Islamic State, the militant group that has seized large parts of northern Iraq, but is unlikely to substantially weaken the group, the Pentagon said on Monday. Reuters/U.S. Navy/Handout via Reuters

Pentagon: Iraq Operations Cost $7.5 Million Daily -- Voice of America

The Pentagon says U.S. military operations against Islamic State militants in Iraq are costing, on average, $7.5 million per day.

Rear Admiral John Kirby said Friday the cost in Iraq has increased as activities have intensified since they started in mid-June.

The news comes a day after President Barack Obama downplayed the possibility of adding U.S. airstrikes against Islamic extremists in Syria, but added the administration is still working on a comprehensive plan to deal with the terrorist group.

Vatican scoffs at threats that Pope Francis is “in the crosshairs” of ISIS as Italy issues a terrorist threat and tightens security.

VATICAN CITY — As Pope Francis continues to straddle the fine line between calling for the end of persecution of Christians in Iraq and blessing American airstrikes against the Islamic State (also known as the “Caliphate,” ISIS, or ISIL), there is increasing concern for the pontiff’s—and the public’s—safety.

Earlier this week, the Roman newspaper Il Tempo published a disturbing report that Francis is “in the crosshairs” of ISIS for “bearing false witness” against Islam. Citing anonymous sources within Italy’s intelligence community and pointing to notable heightened security in Rome, the paper went on to say that ISIS plans to heat things up by “raising the level of confrontation” with Europe, Italy and very specifically Pope Francis, the “greatest exponent of the Christian religions.” The Vatican downplayed the concerns, calling them unfounded despite growing concern in Italy that it is not just the Pope who is under threat. “There is nothing serious to this,” Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi told Catholic News Agency. “There is no particular concern in the Vatican.”

What Can The US And NATO Do To Prevent Putin From Defeating Ukraine? -- Quartz

The new incursion into Ukrainian territory by Russian forces has led some veteran US foreign policy hands to call for a quick and highly visible Western airlift of military equipment to Kyiv. The aim: to prevent a Russian rout of Ukraine.

Writing in the Wall Street Journal, former US secretary of state George Shultz and ex-defense secretary William Perry urged the US and NATO to deploy forces in the Baltics, and equipment in Ukraine.

The prospects a swift victory for Russian president Vladimir Putin’s forces grew dramatically on Aug. 26, when a column of Russian armor appeared over the border at Novoazovsk, sending the Ukrainian troops into a full, panicked retreat. Russian forces today occupied the town, and are reportedly advancing to the strategic port of Mariupol.

Pro-Russian separatists walk at a destroyed war memorial on Savur-Mohyla, a hill east of the city of Donetsk, August 28, 2014. Credit: REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

On Russian Troops In Ukraine, Honesty Is Not Everyone's Best Policy -- Christian Lowe, Reuters

(Reuters) - The Ukraine conflict has evoked many memories of the Cold War, including a footloose attitude to the truth. But even as Russia’s denials of involvement stretch credibility to breaking point, for some they remain a convenient fiction.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is chief among them; denying a Russian role will keep his domestic audience in ignorance of a war they don't want - especially useful if the battle goes badly.

But there are also some European powers, including Germany and France, who despite being on the opposite side of the crisis share Putin's desire not to paint it as an out-and-out war between Russia and Ukraine.

For them, stating unequivocally that Russia has attacked Ukraine would force them to impose more costly sanctions, and could block the path to a truce with Russia they hope will resolve the crisis.

(Reuters) - A total of 2,593 people, including civilians as well as Ukrainian and separatist combatants, have been killed in fighting in eastern Ukraine since it erupted in mid-April, a senior U.N. human rights official said on Friday.

"The trend is clear and alarming. There is a significant increase in the death toll in the east," Ivan Simonovic, U.N. Assistant Secretary General for Human Rights, told journalists.

"The current number of killed is 2,593 - close to 3,000 if we include the 298 victims of the MH17 (Malaysian airliner) plane crash," he said.

NATO to Russia: Stop 'Illegal' Military Operations in Ukraine -- Voice of America

NATO has called on Russia to cease its "illegal military operations" in eastern Ukraine, which it says are aimed at destabilizing the country.

The comments by NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Friday followed an emergency meeting in Brussels to discuss the worsening crisis.

Rasmussen, referencing satellite images released by his organization Thursday, said it is now clear that Russian troops and equipment have illegally crossed the border into eastern Ukraine. He said this is not an isolated incident, but part of a pattern over many months to destabilize Ukraine as a sovereign nation.

About Me

I have been involved in numerous computer science projects since the 1980s, as well as developing numerous web projects since 1996.
These blogs are a summation of all the information that I read and catalog pertaining to the subjects that interest me.